While Kenya is building more hospitals and some healthcare professionals are making bold claims about the number of medical tourists they may in future attract from other African states, the reality is that thousands of Kenyans go overseas for treatment.
Some of the common ailments that have driven Kenyans out of for specialised treatments include cardiac conditions, kidney diseases, neurosurgery and cancer.
Most go to India and South Africa with a few to Europe and the USA.
The real concern for the local healthcare sector and the government is that valuable foreign currency is flowing out to other countries to pay for healthcare.
Kenya Commercial Bank plans to offer loans to patients who want to undergo kidney transplant and dialysis at a Kenyan public hospital in an attempt to reduce capital flight that banks estimate to be up to Sh10 billion.
Local healthcare professionals and government officials are working on a draft medical tourism strategy to reduce the increasing number of Kenyans going out of the country to get treatment. The longer-term aim is to provide facilities to attract patients to go to Kenya for treatment.